Postman Joseph Roulin

Van Gogh painted the postman Joseph Roulin at least six times between 1888 and 1889, making him the most frequently depicted individual in Van Gogh's Arles period. Roulin was one of Van Gogh's few genuine friends in Arles — a republican, a drinker, a talker — and Van Gogh described him as 'a man more interesting than most.' He treated the postal uniform as a kind of heraldic costume, the blue and gold buttons giving him a ceremonial grandeur. The series of Roulin portraits, together with his family's portraits, constituted Van Gogh's attempt to create a modern equivalent of Dutch Golden Age group portraiture rooted in working-class life.

The deep Prussian blue uniform is built up in short, parallel brushstrokes that also appear in the background foliage-like marks. The face is modelled with warmer tones — yellow ochre, raw sienna — contrasting with the cool blue. The flowers on the uniform are rendered in rapid impasto touches.